Spring Conference

May 11, 2018

8:00: Registration, Continental Breakfast, Exhibits

8:45-9:00Welcome:Jes Hathaway, Vermont Council on Reading President

9:00-10:30Keynote Address: Lester Laminack When Books Become Best Friends: One Book/Many Visits
Explore the potential of revisiting a small collection of carefully selected books through focused read aloud experiences across time. Imagine slowing down to explore a small set of books in layers, one layer at a time with a clear focus for each read aloud experience. Lester will take you through the potential of a few picture books to demonstrate what can be done with numerous well-loved Best Friend Books because he understands that to be a good writer you must first be able to read deeply and understand author’s intent. Lester Laminack will show you that the key to successful writing is harnessing the power of close reading. You will learn how your students can transfer what they know about reading structures and strategies into practices that will
hone their writing skills and help them become more focused writers

10:30-11:00Book Exhibit Break

11:00-12:00Keynote Address: Lester Laminack Read Aloud as Instructional Investment: Layering Vocabulary and Concepts for Subject Specific Study
A set of thoughtfully selected and “planfully” used picture books can be the scaffold to strengthen topic specific teaching and learning. Come explore how a well-chosen text set can be organized to include read aloud, literature circles, and independent reading that will layer in vocabulary, scaffold concepts and help students visualize what they are reading in content area materials.

12:00-1:00Luncheon, Award Presentations, Raffle

1:00-3:00Keynote Address: Lester Laminack Writers ARE Readers: Use Reading Structures and Strategies to Nurture More Powerful Writers
To be a good writer you must first be able to read deeply and understand author’s intent. In this workshop, Lester Laminack will show you that the key to successful writing is harnessing the power of close reading. You will learn how your students can transfer what they know about reading structures and strategies into practices that will hone their writing skills and help them become more focused writers.